Insurance Commissioner race a statistical dead heat

The Race for State Insurance Commissioner is a statistical dead heat as the Republican John Doak leads the Incumbent Democrat Kim Holland by less than a point.

The statewide poll shows Doak leading receiving 33.2 percent of the vote while Holland receives 32.4, while 34.4 percent said the were still undecided. It should be noted that this poll only included the announced candidates at the time the survey was fielded.

“This race gives a good indication of the mood of the electorate and shows the slight advantage the Republicans have this year all the way down the ticket,” Bill Shapard, CEO of SoonerPoll.com, said. “John Doak has never run for office before, while Commissioner Holland has, and the unknown challenger has a slight lead on the incumbent. This indicates the electorate, overall, is more likely to vote Republican this year — even for candidates they do not particularly know.”

SoonerPoll.com conducted the scientific study using live interviewers by telephone of 503 likely voters from May 25 – June 8, 2010. The study has a margin of error of ± 4.4 percent.

Holland has served as Oklahoma’s State Insurance Commissioner since being appointed by Governor Brad Henry in 2005 following the indictment and resignation Carroll Fisher. In 2006 Holland won reelection after out fund-raising a former state representative Bill Case, five to one.

Doak, a Tulsa area businessman and insurance professional, said that if elected he would “be a strong voice advocating for Oklahoma consumers, while being fair to businesses who create jobs in our economy.”

Filing for candidacy ended June 9 and saw the addition of two Republican candidates who were not included in the poll, which was completed on June 8. The former State Insurance Commisioner John P. Crawford has announced his candidacy for the office along with Mark Croucher, an insurance agency owner in Jenks, Okla.

10 COMMENTS

I would vote for Insurance Commissioner Kim Holland. She has performed miracles in getting our Insurance Department cleaned up. The office is now professionally accountable to the citizens of Oklahoma, is transparent in its dealings, and is now a source of pride in our state. Commissioner Holland’s expertise, accountability and personal accessibility make her the perfect person to continue representing Oklahoma as our Insurance Commissioner.

You are joking right? There was nothing to “clean up” at the Insurance Department. It was the old insurance commissioner that got into trouble not the department. She has not been transparent or she would have released the independent audit of the department that she boasted about in her commercials 4 years ago.

Kim Holland has restored credibility back to the state insurance department. She works tirelessly and is very insurance knowledgeable. She had a mess to deal with and turned it around without missing a beat with her first class team. She has testified before congress with confidence and impressed them with her direct engagement. She is the most qualified to be re-elected. All Oklahomans can be proud!!

Really? Restored credibility? How exactly did she do that? Just by being appointed? She only has a GED and is limited on her insurance knowledge by health insurance / group insurance. Ask her about things outside of this scope like I have and she is lost. Oh and if you look at the revenue that the department was making before she took office and what it has done every year since you will see it has gone down. And how much did it cost to move the OKC office? There was no need for it to be moved and that money could have been spent elsewhere in the state like for education.

When I ask insurance professionals around the State what has Kim Holland done that has helped Oklahoma as Insurance Commissioner I get the same reply everytime. She cleaned up the department from corruption.

My reply is simply that I agree that she cleaned up a mess that was created by her own Democratic party. She was appointed by Brad Henry to finish Democrat Carrol Fishers term since he was sent to prison. That was six years ago! How long does it take? Why is Oklahoma paying more for Workers Compensation Insurance than States around us? This causes business NOT to come to Oklahoma and cost us jobs.

That is why we need someone like John Doak to bring the experience that it takes to not only run a clean and efficient department but also bring opportunities to Oklahoma and fight for Oklahoma against ObamaCare. Everyone needs to vote for change and John “Okie” Doak has a plan to help Oklahoma.

The insurance commissioner does not make laws – they regulate the laws that are passed. John Doak will have zero say in the workers comp laws. I’m a registered Republican and will defintely vote for Kim Holland. The insurance dept has never been run as efficently. I’ve been in the insurance industry for 20 years and have seen commissioners come and go – Kim Holland is by far the best. I don’t know John Doak, but I doubt he will be able to run the Oklahoma Insurance Dept better than Kim Holland.
Keep Holland in office. She has a proven record.

Yes they do regulate laws but also sit on 10 different boards and help the legislature write and pass new laws for the state of Oklahoma. I know a lot of people that work at the department and they say the office is a mess with Kim Holland as the commissioner. They insurance commissioner has a lot of power and authority to make things happen. She is just on a power trip. She has done nothing to help the industry that she regulates. Part of her job is to regulate the real estate appraisers and she sure did nothing to help the rampant fraud they were doing with way over pricing homes because she does not have any clue what she is doing. She got into the office by appointment, stayed in office due to huge funding by outside the state contributors and has just been a rubber stamp to Brad Henry and the Dem’s since she took office. She is for Obama Care due to the power it will give her office and not against it.

Doak has more education, experience and integrity to run that office. He will do what is right for Oklahoma based on the right reasons not for what is best for his friends. Time to make a change at the insurance department.

Tim Will, after having several discussions with Doak and sitting in on several speaking engagements (including a visit he did to my office) I have to heartily disagree with you. Is Doak knowledgeable about insurance — yes. Is he more knowledgeable than Holland? Absolutely not. I am normally a straight line Republican voter, but not this time. The one Democrat I WILL sign on for is Kim Holland. I happen to know she has fought against ObamaCare EVERY step of the way, she was one of the key fighters against the legislation at the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. She is deeply tuned into the things going on in our industry and she is certainly not “for ObamaCare”.

All that being said, when asked any specific question about what he would do differently.. Doak continues to respond “We’ll do an audit on how things are run, take a look at everything, and figure out what needs to be done”.. we’re in the midst of an insurance CRISIS in Oklahoma. His pitch to the insurance community? “If you’re a Republican, vote for me!” And he said it MANY times. Odd for someone who claims he can ‘hit the ground running’. We don’t have time to have someone come in and figure out what’s going on in this important time. Has Kim been flawless? Absolutely not. Far from it, but now is not the time for a change. Again, she’s fought HARD against ObamaCare. Any insinuation otherwise is completely misleading, and it’s something Doak has tried to say for months until many in the insurance community began confronting him about it.

Doak seems like a good enough guy, but Kim Holland is the right person for the job. First Democrat I do believe I’ve every voted for — but it’s the right choice.

You are kidding me right? Kim Holland is not against ObamaCare. She went to the three month anniversary at the white house in support of the signing of the bill. She spoke to the Health Underwriters group and said to vote against state question 756, saying that it would not be good for Oklahoma if we opted out of the ObamaCare plan.

As for being a part of the NAIC, that is a joke. She is only there due to political favors . . . just like how she got the job that she currently has. Most people don’t know what they are talking about as it relates to the NAIC. Just look who her friend is that got her on the board, Cathy Weatherford. Whom you probably forgot already that was appointed as the Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner but got into trouble when her father purchased so much land from a insurance company that was in receivership. That is why she did not run for reelection and we to the NAIC.

Kim Holland is not the right person for the job of insurance commissioner and is for ObamaCare reguardless of what you have heard. If she was doing such a great job why did Coburn endorse Doak and not Holland. Then Holland ran an ad trying to say that she was endorsed by Coburn?

As to Doak not being able to hit the ground running, the majority of the insurance department will / should stay the same. I know that Doak has more education, diverse background in the insurance business than Holland and is running for the right reason, not like Holland that go in the office by being a friend of Brad Henry.

But you are right, we are in a crisis here in Oklahoma and Holland has done nothing to help us in the last 6 years. If she had done something why is she not saying what all that she has accomplished? Just look at the annual reports that are published every year by the Department of Insurance and you will quickly see that she has done more harm than good.

I have met both candidates, heard both of them speak and researched both of them. I plan to vote for John Doak. Holland has not taken a strong stand against the new health care bill and could not answer the questions that I asked her about the impact of increasing 1099 reporting on small businesses (part of the health care bill). She has also refused to take a position on SQ 744, which is a critical initiative. Every state candidate should be prepared to take a stand on 744 and explain his/her position.

Doak has 20+ years industry experience and his knowledge of insurance is astounding. He has also signed on to a lawsuit regarding the new health care bill, which is an afront to personal liberty and to the financial well-being of our state (increased unfunded mandates in Medicaid spending). He is also opposed to 744.

Since 2004, SoonerPoll has been Oklahoma’s only independent, non-partisan public opinion polling firm. A brand of ShapardResearch, LLC, SoonerPoll conducts its polling from its headquarters in Oklahoma City.